Boris Johnson can’t jump to safe seat of Henley for next general election, Tory source says

Tory party sources have hit back at the suggestion Boris Johnson could be on manoeuvres to try to run in his former constituency of Henley in the next election.

The ex-PM is rumoured to be contemplating ditching his current seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in favour of the safer constituency of Henley, Oxfordshire – where he was the MP until 2008.

But a Conservative Party spokesperson said it had been clear that Mr Johnson should fight in his current West London seat.

Mr Johnson has long been reported to be plotting a change in constituency in a bid to shore up his political fortunes – despite repeated denials from his allies.

But a recent move to Oxfordshire, along with an appearance by Mr Johnson and his family at a village fete in the county over the weekend, only served to fuel speculation.

The current MP for Henley, John Howell, announced last month that he would be retiring from politics ahead of the next election, leaving a vacant seat.

He recently told ITV News, however, that Mr Johnson stepping in as his replacement would happen “over my dead body”.

Mr Howell denied agreeing some kind of deal with Mr Johnson. “I do not do deals with Boris Johnson and I have not done a deal with Boris Johnson,” he said. “He has been told by the Conservative Party that he has to stand in his current seat.”

A Tory party spokesperson pointed to Mr Howell’s comments and said: “We’ve been clear that Boris should stand in his current seat. He’s already been readopted by the seat.”

It comes as Mr Johnson’s conduct in office has been under the microscope yet again after he was referred to police for the second time over suspected Covid law breaches.

A row also erupted over what private messages and diaries of his would be handed over to the official inquiry into the pandemic.

These latest incidents have done nothing to thaw relations between Mr Johnson and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and a planned discussion between the two this week to “clear the air” is no longer going ahead.

It was understood on Tuesday there had been initial discussions about holding a phone call, not a face-to-face meeting, but this is now not scheduled to go ahead.

Mr Johnson was reselected as the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in March.

He could yet be forced to face his own by-election in the seat if he is condemned by a Privileges Committee inquiry into whether he lied to Parliament over Covid rule-breaking in No 10.